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Help with Burma Itinerary

I am currently in the planning stages of my Nov 15 trip to SE Asia and we have settled on Burma (i think) I have been to Yangon and Bagan before but D hasn't, so keen to do some of those sights again. ( I simply MUST visit Shwedagon again)
I already have my int flight LHR and BKK all sorted and yesterday i got a real bargain on AA for BKK- RGN so that date is all set.
I am currently working with a couple fo TA's (one in Burma - Santa Maria - who i used when i went 4 years ago) and 1 in the UK - who are great but currently running at £2k more!!!!
So i will probably use SM and i must say they have been super responsive this time and I even sent them some itinery ideas from the UK company which they have said they can do, Itinerary looks like this
2 nights in BKK -Fly BKK- Yangon
2 nights Strand
3 nights Bagan (Balloons over Bagan/ Market temple tours etc etc)
DRIVE to Kalaw - Santa Maria are telling me it's 6 hours (which we are fine with but the UK company are saying its more like 9! (reason we may drive is D hates flying so I am trying to reduce internal flights and as all the cruises I want bewteen Bagan and Mandalay i want are full I thought it may be an alternative and a way to see more of Burma) Thoughts?
1 night Kalaw
3 Nights Inle Princess resort.
FLY - Mandalay
1 night Mandalay , U Bien Bridge other sights (which i cant remeber right now
Fly back to BKK 3 nights BKK.

So what do you think? nights in BKK are set and arrival into Yangon is pretty much set as I have booked that flight (but it wasn't crazy expensive so IF i had to change I could)
Also someone has mentioned a circular train tour of Yangon... i looked on Trip Advisor and it says 2-3 hours (yawn) the UK company are saying 45 minutes.... anyone done this?
I would like to get this all sorted quite quickly so i can book MDL- BKK flights and get my hotels locked in as i know availability is getting scare (the Savoy in Yangon is already full!)
appreciate all your advice and (helpful comments.

I don't believe there are any flights to Kalaw, which is s jumping off point for trekking, but nothing much to recommend the town itself. But it looks like you are driving from Bagan to Inle (with a stop in Kalaw). That's a very long drive. Even the people on Thorntree don't recommend this drive.

You are jumping around a lot. Personally, I'd cut Mandalay. You have only given yourselves one night there, and anything you want to see there is outside of town. If you are interested in the ancient cities, you would need more time. We loved Sagaing. You can always use another day in Bagan or Inle.

Kathie, in what way do you think we are jumping around? I thought it seemed relatively logical
Yangon- Bagan - Kalaw- ( yes you are right we would have flown to Heho) Inle - Mandalay.
I am using Mandalay as our exit point and we had planned to get an early flight and do the sightseeing after we land...( and yes out of town sights) as I have been to Bagan before and knowing D's tolerance for temples I did think this would be enough... Should I skip Kalaw and go straight to Inle? (I think the hotel Amara sp? was what was recommended in Kalaw) I would have 4 nights at Inle then ( and some down time! )
How do you get to Saigang ( remember I have to keep flights to a minimum)
I may try to persuade D to take the flight to Heho if it's that bad......
Thanks for your advice

It's the drive to Kalaw I thought was eating up too much time. You'll fly to HeHo to get to Inle, so if you really want to go to Kalaw, do so after you arrive at HeHo. But I would skip it and have another day at Inle. It is so beautiful!

In Mandalay, we stayed at the Rupar Mandalar and liked it. They also have an excellent restaurant. You will need a car and driver to get to Sagaing, and there is a pretty good restaurant there.

Sorry, didn't realize D was not that interested in temples - and much of what you will be visiting all over the country are temples and monasteries, etc. What kinds of things would you need to add in to keep him happy?

Kathie, oh no he is fine with temples but just not days and days. the hotel you stayed in Mandalay is the one SM have suggested, really glad you liked it so may stick with that, was the location good? The other one mentioned is The Red Canal?.
I do like the idea of another day at Inle though.....
So I may reinstate the flight to HeHo but not tell him
Thanks again for your advice Kathie, always appreciated.

SM is who recommended it to us. Location - a bit out of town, but that's ok, Mandalay isn't really a walking city. The Red Canal was the other one I looked at, but we were glad we chose the Rupar Mandalar. We had a free afternoon there - beautiful swimming pools!

Have a great time!

BTW, we will be back in Bangkok in November. I feel like I know you from Fodors, but ti would be fun to get together.

Right now all we have are our flights: arrive Nov 4 about 2 am, leave Nov 25. In between, we will be going one or two other places, not yet firm. I think we have one day overlap with Bob and Karen right now.

We stayed at the Red Canal, we walked to the main drag and around the neighborhood from there and rested by their lovely pool. Very friendly staff, we arranged a guide through them at the last minute and got a terrific person. We were there for 2 nights. Charming rooms, nice little balcony.

S-Just saw you post as I've not checked the Asia Forum in quite a while. I did the circular train ride and thought it was time well spent. I really enjoyed seeing the rural towns the train passed through and observing the locals who got on and off the train at the various stops..
The bench seats are hard, and the train is not air conditioned, but the windows open. We did it on a warm day and it was not uncomfortable. It is basically a train for the locals who get on and off at the various stops with their baskets full of agricultural produce, industrial things, etc. I thought it was interesting seeing the non tourist side of Yangon, but just know that it is a very basic train ride (What can you expect for $1). If you want more details of where to buy the tickets,etc., pull up my TR of Myanmar. As an aside, I'd skip Kalaw and spend the extra day at Inle Lake which was one of the highlights of our trip.

Just catching your thread now. Good call on the Strand and great call on Inle Princess. Most of all, SO very glad to hear you'll be doing Balloons Over Bagan. Not often am I enticed to pay that kind of money for what seems like a fairly rote experience...but it really is one of the Top 3 travel experiences I've ever had. Every moment from take-off to landing is just magic. Insist on sitting on one of the edges (there's many of them) of the basket so you can get the best pictures.

So jealous you get to go back to one of our favorite places. I'll PM you some more details later.

Kathie - looks like we may miss each other - when you have firm dates let me know
Shelley - really am in 2 minds re Kalaw I want to go but seems like yet another stop.
I've decided to wait until we are in Yangon to decide to do it.
FW - I have even managed to persuade D to do the BOB flight.... Didn't you have some trouble with DM not booking it?
I remembered how much you said you loved Inle P hence our booking... Now here's a question Inle is supposed to be the chill out time of our trip but in November will it be warm enough? If I do drop Kalaw should I add to warmer Bagan or Inle?
Also a Shangri La has opened by Sule in Yangon ( former traders hotel) have considered that too- thoughts anyone? I did like the Strand when I stayed there last time so happy to revisit ( and I think D will like it ) but just wondered about the S- La.

The weather should be lovely at Inle in November. It will be cool in the mornings and evenings, hot during the day. This is a place where you need layers. You'll want to be out on the lake as soon as the sun is up, and you'll need layers to keep warm, but over the next few hours it will get very hot and with very direct sun. You'll want sunscreen, and you'll probably use the umbrellas in the boat to keep the sun off of you.

Kalaw is really not off the tourist track. It's a mandatory stop for backpackers, so if you think you are really getting off the tourist trail, I fear you will be disappointed.

As far as BoB is concerned, we never made it. We had odd weather the first time we were in Bagan and they cancelled on us twice. SM did book it for us, and we got a much better price than we could get elsewhere. The second time we were in Bagan, we decided not to try for it again.

I'd stick with the Strand. Nothing wrong with the Traders - just nothing all that great about it. I understand they have done minimal upgrades and just re-christened it a Shangri-La.

ARGHHHH
Because I have procrastinated Tharabar gate now full!, but I really like the look of Bagan Lodge ( which is new) anyone seen ita. I have asked them to look into that one as I didn't like the look of the other one they suggested or anyone have any good alternatives?
Also they are telling me Inle Princess is booked out but when I pressed them they said it's the room type SO they have offered me Mountain view or Princess lake view rooms ( not sure how it differed to original room offered) anyway IP website is rubbish so anyone with any knowledge of these rooms?
I'd like to get back to them for when they open for business tomorrow so any help would be appreciated,
Kathie - I hear you ref the Strand, I'll keep that booking.... Also didn't think Kalaw was off the tourist trail, just thought it looked quite interesting and maybe a light trek would be good.

We stayed in a riverfront suite at the Thiripyitsaya on our last trip. There are a total of four suites, all right on the river. We loved the suite, loved having tea out on our patio fronting the river. The food at the hotel was awful - it was hard to find anything at the breakfast buffet I was willing to eat. It's been a few years, so maybe the food has improved.

I was in Yangon for a week, so the circle train was worthwhile for me, but with limited time....maybe not.

In Mandalay I stayed at the Hotel by the Red Canal in August 2013. Lovely staff, an Indian restaurant, and we liked the rooms at the front, which had a balcony overlooking a stream with fish. The rooms at the back have an outdoor rain shower facing a rock wall.

The local area was walkable and interesting to me.
A memorable moment was seeing a monk swimming serenely, straight down the centre of the Red Canal.

I have to say: Burmese food was some of my favorite. Surprisingly, considering how much bad stuff I had read here from posters regarding it. But I was so wonderfully surprised when there.

While I never really got the whole mohinga thing, almost all of the salads we had (tea leaf salad, tomato salad, ginger salad, etc.) were so tasty. Wonderful mix of texture and tang. And don't even get me started on the garlic noodles ...they are a thing of legend!

I'm such a huge fan of Burmese food, I stop at Burma Superstar anytime I pass through San Francisco. Truly some of the best Asian food available in SF.

FW, I think maybe for us the food was generally mediocre because we were not there that long, so we didn't try that many places. The food at Aureum in Bagan was mainly western ( bland) fare from what I remember. We did have a fab lunch at a The Moon in Bagan and I seem to remember The Strand was nice. Anyway I'll look forward to seeing how the food is.
So an update, I ended up having to book Inle Princess' and Hotel@Tharabar Gate on Agoda! As SM couldn't get me the rooms ( they advised me to book them there as they said hotels sometimes save some rooms for internet bookings) I knew Burma was popular but didn't think I would have so many things in available.... But then it was like this in SL last year, I had everything booked in Feb to secure the hotels.
II think Inle Princess was a deal breaker for me, if we couldn't get a decent Inle hotel then we may have completely changed our plans....I have booked a "private pond view chalet" ? As it looked like they had nice decks to lounge on?
All other hotels, Balloons over Bagan and flights have been booked by SM. ( I just need to send the first deposit to SM)
Wow though prices have certainly gone up.
I decided to keep with my initial itinerary ( incl Kalaw) so now trying to decide on what we actually want to see and do.....

Hi Smeagol,
I'd love to know your final itinerary. I posted a similar thread a few days ago, to which you responded you were having trouble booking hotels. Have you decided on a final itinerary, lodging, and circuit?
Would you mind sharing?
Thanks!

I have internet again...."private pond view chalet" ? Yes they do have a deck looking out over a nice little pond. Looked very similar to the lake view decks. We really liked that property and enjoyed the food. I had spring rolls (veg) which I love and DH had a fish dish which he though was very good. Actually we were pleased with what we ate...but we do not go for really spicy so that may be part of it.